Trained as a graphic designer, printmaker and teacher, Joan studied at the Museum School, Smith College and Connecticut College. During a 25 year career in advertising and marketing, Joan continued to work in her own studio first silkscreening and then as her business career expanded she turned to fiberwork that could more easily be picked up and put down. Eight years ago, Joan left the field of marketing to focus her attentions on the fine arts.

Joan says of this transition, “I have had to challenge all of my assumption. How would I spend my time? Which mediums would I use? What would be my subject matter and what role did I want the viewer to play in my work? In the beginning, I thought the answers to these questions were simple and unchanging. I now know the answer are complex and should and will change if I am working hard and honestly.”

At first, Joan worked exclusively in monoprints and quilts keeping the two separate. She also went back to a drawing discipline, spending one day a week simply drawing to both hone her hand to eye skills and to generate new ways of mark making.

“In the beginning, I thought I would make small prints and quilts that people would buy because they were pretty. Almost from the start, my work didn’t turn out this way. Early on, I began to find ways to combine the printing and quilting and I quickly realized that my work was not going to be about “pretty”. I certainly don’t mind creating beauty when it happens but it is more important to me to explore the world I live in from both a perspective of personal stories and more universal political, cultural and spiritual stories. Along with printing, stitching and drawing, I’ve added painting to the mix, and now I am beginning to blur the boundaries between them. I use symbols and often times words in my work. The words can be read but they can also be seen as visual elements. I don’t expect the viewer necessarily to find my story but I do hope the work allows them to keep looking to find their own stories.”

Joan’s work has been shown and collected across the United States. She currently teaches at the DeCordova Museum School and privately coaches artists and students making the transition to art. To purchase her work or to discuss her teaching or coaching, Joan can be contacted at 781-861-7315 or lion_of_the_mountains@yahoo.com.